“Trout has been a World Champion and he deserves his recognition. I know why I accepted this challenge.

“Training in Big Bear was great and we accomplished all the goals that [trainer] Pedro [Diaz] had for us. Everything so far is going just as he planned. I'm feeling great.

“Pedro has been a great addition to my career and for our team. Everyone saw the results with my fights against (Antonio) Margarito and (Floyd) Mayweather. Now, we'll see how I perform against Trout.

“All fights are different and every fighter is different, but I'm training hard like always and I'm ready to show that everyone on December 1st.

“Trout is not the only undefeated fighter that I have faced. He is not the first champion either. With that in mind, I will climb into the ring to win.”

“Since I started working with Miguel Cotto, we talked about the future, different training techniques and new preparations like training at high altitude. We trained for three weeks in Puerto Rico to prepare Miguel for Big Bear. Once we got there, training was excellent.

“The final result was exactly what we wanted and we met our physical and mental goals for Miguel. Miguel has been in some very tough and difficult fights and we wanted to give his body some extra oxygen by training in Big Bear. Everyone knows the benefits of training at a high altitude and it paid off.

“We came back to Orlando to finish our preparations and everything has gone smoothly. He's 100% ready and Miguel can feel the difference from this training camp to the others before. I know were going to win on December 1st.”

Jayson Velez

“I'm very emotional and happy about my upcoming fight. I'm fighting at a legendary venue and to fight on the co-main event underneath Miguel is an honor. This is also my first time on SHOWTIME and an opportunity that very few people get.

“I'm fighting a tough Mexican fighter and I'm expecting a war…Puerto Rico vs. Mexico! I promise everyone, it will be a great show.”

# # #

“Showdown: Cotto vs. Trout” is a 12-round battle between Four-Time and Three-Division World Champion Miguel Cotto and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Austin Trout taking place on Saturday, December 1 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The co-featured fights will see Jayson Velez take on Salvador Sanchez II in a 10-round fight for the vacant WBC Silver Featherweight title and Danny “Miracle Man” Jacobs battle Chris “The Irish Ghost” Fitzpatrick in a 10-round middleweight fight. The event is promoted by Miguel Cotto Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with Greg Cohen Promotions, sponsored by The Puerto Rican Tourism Board and Corona and will be televised live on SHOWTIME at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).